


Romantic Midterms

by Firetype55



Category: Original Work
Genre: But also not!, F/F, Hanahaki Disease, Its in the form of singular petals that show how many people you've had unrequited crushes on., Multi, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-06-29 10:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19828054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firetype55/pseuds/Firetype55
Summary: Two unlikely friends get put in the same dorm as each other, and of course their friends decided that they should be dating. Classic college matchmaker-turned-actual-relationship story, but of course these aren't your typical college students.Their fates have been intertwined their whole lives, even if they've only recently met.





	1. Petals

Quiet sobs wake Jordan up, the girl rubbing at her eyes and glancing over at her dormmate.

A year younger than her, Sarah was a brash person... but to hear her actually crying was... odd. Sitting up silently, she figures she should figure out what's going on first.

Across from her, Sarah's sitting on the floor, rubbing at her arms, the sleeves of her jacket pushed up.

"Stupid.... fucking petals... go away..." The younger student mumbles, and suddenly Jordan understands.

"Another date gone wrong....?" She whispers to Sarah, walking over to her, only to sit in front of her. 

Sarah looks up with a start, immediately looking sheepish. "Did.... did I wake y- you? I'm- I'm sorry. I- I didn't mean to."

Jordan waves her off with a small smile. "I'm a super light sleeper, it's fine. What happened?"

".... She was stringing me along." She mumbles, eyes cast to the ground. 

"Oh... I'm so sor-"

Sarah cuts her off by putting her hand over the older girl's mouth. "I don't want a fucking apology. I... I just...." She pulls her hand away, pulling her arms closer to her chest- a nervous habit of hers, Jordan noticed. 

".... C'mere, you anxious nerd." Jordan giggles, and something about the way Sarah's eyes light up makes her relax as she pulls the other in for a hug. "It'll be okay, promise. You'll find someone, and they'll be perfect for you."

"'m not a fuckin nerd..." Sarah grumbles, curling up in the embrace. It was rather easy to, she was quite a bit shorter than Jordan. 

"Sure you aren't, Ms. Chemistry Major." Jordan sticks her tongue out at Sarah, giggling.

"Says the one majoring in nursing." That adorable giggle of Jordan's makes Sarah flush red, only able to meet her gaze for a second before shifting aquamarine eyes to the ground. "You're the nerd for going into a medical field."

Jordan rolls her eyes. "Yeah, I'm the nerd for wanting to help people. And you're not, for wanting to make new chemicals to blow things up with." She wishes she were lying about that, but Sarah literally did nearly blow up the physical sciences lab. On her second day of class. 

Everyone in the building had to be evacuated, and Jordan had to stand outside in the rain for four hours while the fire department had to clear the poisonous gas from the building. They weren't able to finish class, as it was getting late and the professors had lessons to plan.

Sarah got quite the earful from Jordan, who had followed the guilty party back to their dorm, and slammed the door shut behind her.

Jordan shakes her head, not the time to go into memory land, Bonner!

Sarah was just sitting there, staring, and something about it made Jordan flush. 

"I- Wh.... what's up?" God, why the heck was she stuttering?

"So- Sorry.... you were just.... er...." Sarah's face is quickly turning pink, and to stop it, she pulls away from the hug and curls up on her bed. "I... I feel better. Thanks, Jordan." 

And the way Sarah's voice is so soft yet so closed off makes Jordan's heart break a little, because this poor girl's been hurt so many times, and now she couldn't even put her trust in anyone. "I-... Of course. Get some sleep, you have an 8am calculus midterm tomorrow, remember?"

And the fact that Jordan remembered made Sarah's heart melt a bit, because this sweet girl actually paid attention to her schedule and her ramblings, meaning she did care about Sarah. "Yeah.... You get some sleep too, okay?"

"Of course. Goodnight, Sarah." Jordan gives a soft smile as she gets up and heads back to her bed. 

"G'night."


	2. Study Sesh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter, the matchmaker!

The next day finds Jordan waking up to the smell of coffee and the sound of panic. Rolling over, she fumbles for her phone, vaguely hearing something fall to the ground.

Unlocking the device, the harsh blue light blinds her for a few seconds, before she's finally able to read the time. 

"Sarah...." Wow, her voice sounded scratchy. "It's 5:12 in the morning.... Why...?"

"I didn't study!"

Only Sarah... Jordan groans, swinging her legs over the side of the bed as she sits up, rubbing at her eyes. "Who do you have again?"

"Prince." comes the panicked reply, along with the shuffling of papers. Ah, Mr. Prince, the calculus teacher known for his dramatics.

"I took his class last year, I'm sure I can help."

Sarah stops her shuffling to look up at Jordan, narrowing her eyes. "You, Ms. Complains When She Has To Do A Math Problem, took calculus."

Jordan scoffs, standing and stretching, pulling down her shirt when it rides up. "I was my graduating class' valedictorian, Sarah. I may not seem like it, but I like this stuff."

Sarah's just staring at her now, eyes going wide. "You, the girl who, just the other day, was cursing a simple algebra problem.... LIKE math?"

"Sarah, it was 11pm when I was cursing it! I was too tired to try to solve it!"

Jordan's raised voice makes Sarah flinch back, instinctively hugging herself. ("I- I didn't....") She absently signs, suddenly not trusting her words.

Jordan immediately stops talking, hands covering her mouth. A minute after this, she drops her hands back to her sides. "I... didn't mean to raise my voice like that, Sarah."

Sarah takes a second to still her racing heart, running a hand through her messy hair- did she ever brush it? Jordan was curious.

"It's. It's fine." Her stilted voice makes Jordan's heart break a little more.

*She did that.*

Even if it wasn't intentionally, she was the reason for that. "I-... Let me help you study, please? I'm sure you can ace this midterm, but a bit of studying just before won't hurt." She pads over to the desk that's become more of a landing zone for her textbooks, grabbing a whiteboard and some pens. 

Sarah quirks a brow at her, confused beyond belief as the older girl walks back over, sitting down cross-legged in front of her. "I-.... Okay... Lemme grab you a cup of coffee."

"It's fine, Sarah. You're gonna need that coffee more. I can just go to the Starbucks on campus." The offer of Sarah's precious Death Wish blend makes her smile slightly, as Sarah's never offered that to her before. "Get your coffee and let's get to it."

Over the next two hours, they go over every concept that the eccentric professor has taught in class so far that semester. When 7:45 rolls around, Sarah looks a lot more confident than earlier. 

"Get going, Sarah. You're gonna be late if you stick around any longer." Jordan shoos her off, getting up and flopping on her bed when Sarah's gone. "Thank god, 2 more hours of sleep here I-" 

And then her phone goes off, some annoying meme song playing.

*"Kiki, do you love me? Are you rid-"* is all that the song manages to sing before she answers the call. 

"What, Jessica?" She hisses through clenched teeth. That damn girl was changing her ringtone again!

"Gooooood morning! I have a pink drink with your name on it and I'm 5 minutes from your dorm, if you don't want me to burst in while you and Sa-" 

"You are.... WELL aware that Sarah has an 8am calculus class, correct?" 

"Damn, so y'all ain't banging?"

"JESSICA ALEXANDER WARD!"

"Everyone thinks you two are!"

"Only because you started the rumor!"

The girl Jordan is somehow friends with giggles. "I can hear your voice from where I am, I'm just gonna hang up the call." The beep can be heard from the other side of the door, before the taller, hoodied girl slams it open. "Good mor- Woah, why's it look like a tornado blew through here?" 

Jordan gestures at the small whiteboard that still has some calculus problem or another on it, and Jessica's mismatched eyes light up. "Ah, you were helping her study?"

"She woke me up at five this morning with her panic and the smell of coffee." Grumbling, Jordan sits up. 

"Well, someone needs some Starbucks." She holds out the obnoxiously, aptly named Pink Drink out to Jordan, who snatches it and drinks a fourth of it. 

"Thank god for you knowing what I get." She gives a small smile. "Thanks."

"Jordan, honey, you know there is no god. You're lucky I'm in a forgiving mood, because we were supposed to have breakfast together, nursing major with her life falling apart." 

"It is NOT!"

"Honey, sweetie, absolute love of my life."

"I can never tell if you're meaning that romantically or platonically."

"Yes."

"Ughhhhh." 

"Hun, you woke up at 5am because your roommate was worried about an exam-" She takes a long drink from the white cup in her hand, gesturing to Jordan with her free one.   
"- And instead of just rolling over and sleeping before your 10am class, you helped her study. You are so obnoxiously nice that I'm not sure how no one's taken advantage of that yet." 

Jordan grumbles, getting to her feet again. "I'm sorry I forgot about our meetup, really. But Sarah was panicking and I wasn't gonna sit there and let her panic any longer."

Jessica rolls her eyes, pinches the bridge of her nose, then grabs Jordan's sleeve. "Honey, you owe me breakfast."

"People are gonna think we're dating with all these pet names, y'know." She pulls her sleeve away. "That, and the fact that you keep visiting my dorm." 

"Sweetie, you know that everyone can hear Sarah's panic at night, right? She's the reason half the building doesn't get a good night's sleep." Jessica retorts, crossing her arms. 

"Are we gonna go get breakfast? I don't wanna miss my class because you being hella slow." Jordan grabs her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. "C'mon." She grabs Jessica's hood, dragging her out of the room.


	3. Lunch Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter, the beguiled nerd.

Two hours later finds Sarah in the cafeteria, head pressed firmly against a table. "Kill me."

"If I did that, I'd be a terrible lab partner." Retorts Kaleb Dodger, also known as Actual Asshole Incarnate by Sarah. 

She flips him off, propping her head up long enough to glare at him. 

"Aw, that's cute. But you're gay, so, no." He smirks, rolling his eyes.

"I will murder you in your sleep, steal your soul, then sell it for one corn chip." Sarah grumbles.

Kaleb shrugs. "I'd do the same, Kazuraba."

Standing up, she shoves his face into the table. She then sits on the table next to his head, smirking. "Fucking nerd. Failllll."

Kaleb scoffs, standing up and grabbing Sarah by her jacket. "You, good madam, need to eat something."

Something about that makes Sarah stick her tongue out, blowing a raspberry. She pulls her jacket away, hopping down from the table and heading over to the food bar, getting a sandwich. 

The girl's movements catch the eyes of a few people, but they don't move to stop her. Sarah just walks back over to Kaleb, taking a bite of the sandwich. "There." She mumbles through the bite.

Kaleb recoils, retching. "That's disgusting! Don't talk with food in your mouth!"

She rolls her eyes, swallows the bite, and then talks again. "Fuck you."

He pinches the bridge of his nose, letting out a deep sigh. "We've been over this. You're gay, I'M gay, and the idea grosses both of us out, so stop saying it." Moving to clasp his hands together, he points both index fingers at the girl. "Absolutely, positively, no one will want to date you, unless you-" 

He pauses, seeing her flapping her hand as if to mimic him, "Are you mocking me!?" He exclaims.

"I've heard it a million times, nerd. Why do you care? It's almost like you're trying to tell me something." She smirks, elbowing him. "C'mon, spit it out Sir Gabs-A-Lot." 

Kaleb lets out an offended gasp. "For your information, I do not talk a lot! And yeah, well, Jessica is somehow convinced that you have a crush on your dormmate."

Sarah opens her mouth, then closes it, thinking. Hold up, Jessica.... Jessica... It's a familiar name, but she doesn't recall the face. 

"Tall, always wears a hoodie that's too big, capris?" He prompts.

"Oh! That girl that Jordan hangs out with. Right. So she seriously thinks I've got a thing for that too-kind-to-be-genuine dormmate of mine?" Sarah laughs, crossing her arms. "As if. She's cute, but looks only get you so far."

Kaleb nods, rubbing at the scruff on his face. "That... does make sense, I suppose."

Sarah rolls her eyes, smacking the back of his head. "Of course it makes sense, dumbass!" She pulls her phone from her pocket, glancing at the time. "Ah, I've got my general chem class here soon. Cya around." 

"Goodbye." Kaleb waves.

She grabs her bag from next to Kaleb, heading out. 

A minute or so later, Kaleb's phone buzzes, making him groan, pulling the acursed device from his pocket.

[MSG from Ward]: So has she admitted it?

Ah. It's just her. He gives a small smile, sending a response back, before grabbing his own bag and heading off.


End file.
